we're standing by, jim lehrer is the moderator, getting ready to ask the first question as a result of a flip of a coin, the president of the united states will get the first answer and the last word will go to mitt romney. here is jim lehrer. >> good evening at the magnus arena at the university of denver in denver, colorado. i'm jim lehrer of the pbs "news hour," and i welcome you to the first of the 2012 presidential debates between president barack obama, democratic nominee, and former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, republican nominee. the debates are sponsored by the commission on presidential debates. tonight's 90 minutes will be about domestic issues and will follow a format designed by the commission. there will be six roughly 15-minute segments with two-minute answers for the first question, then open discussion for the remainder of each segment. thousands of people offered suggestions on segment subjects or questions, via the internet and other means, but i made the final selections, and for the record, they were not submitted for approval to the commission or the candi